Zacks Research Downgrades Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) to Strong Sell

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on WB. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Weibo in a report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Weibo in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup lowered shares of Weibo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $9.30 to $7.80 in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $9.80 target price on shares of Weibo in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.80.

Weibo Stock Performance

Shares of WB stock opened at $6.49 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $7.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 3.59, a quick ratio of 3.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Weibo has a 12 month low of $6.47 and a 12 month high of $12.96.

Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The information services provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. Weibo had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 17.78%.The company had revenue of $453.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.45 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Weibo will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Weibo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Weibo by 337.5% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Weibo in the second quarter worth approximately $93,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Weibo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $228,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Weibo by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,465 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Weibo during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. 68.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Weibo

Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ: WB) operates a social media platform in China that enables users to create, share and discover short-form content. Often described as a microblogging service, Weibo supports public posts, multimedia content, hashtags, trending topics, comments, direct messaging and interactions among users, public figures, media organizations and businesses.

The company generates revenue primarily through advertising and marketing services, including promoted content, display advertising and advertising products designed to help brands reach targeted audiences.